SoCal Golf INSIDER

continued on the next screen >> continued from previous screen >> the most strokes. Until Powell shot 64 at age 86, the record of 21 strokes under one's age was held by Ed Ervasti, who was 93 in 2007 when he shot a 72 on the Old Course at Sunningdale Golf & Country Club in London, Ontario. Powell beat that record by one. History! "Oh, my God! How about that?" Powell ex- claimed before laughing loudly. "I had no idea." Neither did anyone else, because Powell does- n't advertise his age. (He turned 87 in August.) C orey Milbrandt, the head professional at Indian Springs GC, said there was quite a buzz that day among the fellow SCPGA club pros in the event when they saw Powell's 8- under 64 posted on the tournament scoreboard. It was two shots off Andre Wall's course record of 62 from the back tees (6,794 yards). "It was an amaz- ing scorecard," Milbrandt said. OK, now the obligatory asterisk. Because of their advanced age, the super seniors played a spe- cial set of forward tees that day – "a combination of white tees (6,131 yards) and red tees (5,297 yards)," Milbrandt said. "Probably about 6,000 (total) yards." "That's a short course, but that's still a hell of an accomplishment," said Paul Scodeller, a longtime PGA club pro at El Niguel Country Club in La- guna Niguel, who still shoots under his age consis- tently at 85. "That's crazy low." And think about this: Powell and Scodeller usu- ally break their age every time they tee it up. "The first time I did it is when I shot 68 at 68 (years old), and I've been doing it ever since," said Scodeller, who was El Niguel's head pro from 1965-1994, when he retired and became an hon- orary member at the club. "I play four times a week and do it every day now, but the guys I play with still make me play the blue tees (6,738 yards). I shot 77 today and I keep it under 80 most of the time, but if I shoot 81 or 82 I lose money." Powell says he doesn't keep a handicap any- more, but he averages in the low 70s. "I beat my age pretty much every time I tee it up," he said. "I started doing it (regularly) proba- bly when I was about 78. Now I usually shoot be- tween 70 and 75, but every once in a while I shoot a 67 or something like that." I nterestingly, Powell is the older brother of for- mer PGA Tour and Champions Tour pro Jimmy Powell, a four-time winner on the Sen- ior PGA Tour who shot or bettered his age five times in tour competition. One of those scores was a 67 at the 2007 Dick's Sporting Goods Open when he was 72. Jimmy also bettered his age at the 2008 DSGO by shooting 72 at 73. So it must run in the family. "Jimmy was also the first player on the senior tour to win the regular event and the Super Sen- iors event in the same tournament," John said, re- ferring to his brother's double win in the 1995 First of America Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich. At 61 years, 8 months, Jimmy also became the second- oldest Champions Tour winner in history when he won the 1996 Brickyard Crossing Championship in Indiana. He won $3.7 million during his Champi- ons Tour career. COVER STORY SoCal GOLF INSIDER Indian Springs Golf Club, site of John Powell's record round.

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